Markets
Ranked: The 100 Biggest Public Companies in the World
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The Biggest Companies in the World in 2022
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This year has been shaped by uncomfortable macroeconomic headwinds.
Trillions of dollars were erased in public company market capitalizations, investor confidence waned, and cost pressures squeezed consumer pocketbooks.
Taken together, many of the world’s largest companies experienced sharp declines in market share. Still, a few companies in key sectors had positive growth over the year.
As 2022 comes to a close, the above infographic shows the biggest companies in the world, using data from Companiesmarketcap.com.
The World’s Largest Public Companies in 2022
Today, Apple stands as the world’s most valuable company, towering at a $2.3 trillion valuation.
Despite the tech downturn of 2022—driven by rising interest rates and slower sales—Apple maintained its top spot. This was largely thanks to record revenues and healthy consumer demand for iPhones, which drive about half of its total revenue.
Following Apple is Microsoft. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has faced slower earnings over the year due to lower demand for personal computers and the weighing impact of a strong U.S. dollar. Overall, about 50% of the company’s sales take place overseas.
As we show below, there are now only four companies left in the trillion dollar market cap club.
2022 Rank | Company | Market Capitalization | Sector | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Apple | $2.3T | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
2 | Microsoft | $1.9T | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
3 | Saudi Aramco | $1.8T | Energy | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia |
4 | Alphabet | $1.2T | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
5 | Amazon | $924B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
6 | Berkshire Hathaway | $686B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
7 | Tesla | $522B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
8 | UnitedHealth Group | $510B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
9 | Johnson & Johnson | $465B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
10 | Visa | $454B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
11 | NVIDIA | $437B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
12 | Exxon Mobil | $437B | Energy | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
13 | TSMC | $417B | Technology | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
14 | Walmart | $399B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
15 | Tencent | $397B | Technology | 🇨🇳 China |
16 | JPMorgan Chase | $394B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
17 | LVMH | $377B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇫🇷 France |
18 | Procter & Gamble | $361B | Consumer Staples | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
19 | Eli Lilly | $349B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
20 | Mastercard | $344B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
21 | Home Depot | $334B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
22 | Chevron | $328B | Energy | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
23 | Nestlé | $322B | Consumer Staples | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
24 | Kweichow Moutai | $313B | Consumer Staples | 🇨🇳 China |
25 | Samsung | $306B | Technology | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
26 | Meta (Facebook) | $304B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
27 | Pfizer | $293B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
28 | AbbVie | $292B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
29 | Novo Nordisk | $292B | Health Care | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
30 | Coca-Cola | $277B | Consumer Staples | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
31 | Merck | $276B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
32 | Roche | $267B | Health Care | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
33 | Bank of America | $263B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
34 | Pepsico | $253B | Consumer Staples | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
35 | ASML | $247B | Technology | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
36 | Alibaba | $245B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇨🇳 China |
37 | Broadcom | $225B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
38 | Thermo Fisher Scientific | $223B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
39 | Oracle | $219B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
40 | Costco | $216B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
41 | Astrazeneca | $215B | Health Care | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
42 | Reliance Industries | $214B | Energy | 🇮🇳 India |
43 | ICBC | $208B | Financials | 🇨🇳 China |
44 | McDonald's | $203B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
45 | Cisco | $203B | Telecommunications | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
46 | Shell | $201B | Energy | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
47 | Danaher | $199B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
48 | L'Oréal | $197B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇫🇷 France |
49 | Toyota | $197B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇯🇵 Japan |
50 | Novartis | $196B | Health Care | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
51 | Abbott Laboratories | $109B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
52 | Accenture | $184B | Industrials | 🇮🇪 Ireland |
53 | T-Mobile | $177B | Telecommunications | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
54 | Nike | $175B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
55 | Walt Disney | $173B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
56 | Nextera Energy | $172B | Utilities | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
57 | Hermès | $169B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇫🇷 France |
58 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | $168B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
59 | Linde | $166B | Basic Materials | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
60 | Wells Fargo | $163B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
61 | Texas Instruments | $161B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
62 | BHP Group | $160B | Basic Materials | 🇦🇺 Australia |
63 | Verizon | $159B | Telecommunications | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
64 | Philip Morris | $159B | Consumer Staples | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
65 | Comcast | $158B | Telecommunications | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
66 | UPS | $158B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
67 | Adobe | $157B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
68 | Morgan Stanley | $154B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
69 | China Construction Bank | $152B | Financials | 🇨🇳 China |
70 | TotalEnergies | $152B | Energy | 🇫🇷 France |
71 | Charles Schwab | $150B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
72 | Amgen | $148B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
73 | Raytheon Technologies | $146B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
74 | Tata Consultancy | $146B | Technology | 🇮🇳 India |
75 | CATL | $145B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇨🇳 China |
76 | China Mobile | $145B | Telecommunications | 🇨🇳 China |
77 | Honeywell | $144B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
78 | Agricultural Bank of China | $141B | Financials | 🇨🇳 China |
79 | Netflix | $140B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
80 | Meituan | $140B | Technology | 🇨🇳 China |
81 | ConocoPhillips | $139B | Energy | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
82 | AT&T | $138B | Financials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
83 | CVS Health | $136B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
84 | Dior | $136B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇫🇷 France |
85 | Qualcomm | $136B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
86 | Prosus | $135B | Technology | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
87 | RBC | $135B | Financials | 🇨🇦 Canada |
88 | IBM | $134B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
89 | Salesforce | $133B | Technology | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
90 | Union Pacific | $133B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
91 | Deere & Company | $132B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
92 | Unilever | $130B | Consumer Staples | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
93 | CM Bank | $130B | Financials | 🇨🇳 China |
94 | HDFC Bank | $129B | Financials | 🇮🇳 India |
95 | Elevance Health | $128B | Health Care | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
96 | AIA | $128B | Financials | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong |
97 | Lockheed Martin | $127B | Industrials | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
98 | PetroChina | $127B | Energy | 🇨🇳 China |
99 | SAP | $127B | Technology | 🇩🇪 Germany |
100 | Lowe's | $124B | Consumer Discretionary | 🇺🇸 U.S. |
*As of Dec 12, 2022.
Oil giant Saudi Aramco is the third largest publicly-traded company globally, at $1.8 trillion. It’s also the only non-U.S. company in the top 10.
In May, the state-run company briefly became the most valuable company on the planet as soaring energy prices boosted earnings. Saudia Arabia is the largest exporter of oil in the world, and the country’s economy is forecast to grow 7.6% in 2022—one of the fastest globally.
Overall, 62 companies of the 100 largest are headquartered in the U.S., 11 are based in China, and five are located in France.
Top 10 Performance in 2022
For many of the world’s largest companies, 2022 was a brutal year for performance.
As the above graphic shows, the vast majority of the world’s titans saw their market values decline. Half of these companies saw double-digit drops.
Tesla has witnessed nearly 70% of its market cap being erased this year. Two main factors are behind this drop: falling demand, especially in China, and CEO Elon Musk’s volatile and risky acquisition of Twitter.
On the other hand, UnitedHealth Group has seen the strongest performance among the top 10.
The company, which rakes in a large share of its earnings from employer-backed insurance plans, said that recessionary impacts had not yet begun materializing in 2022.
Biggest Companies in the World, by Sector
Even with sinking market values across the sector in 2022, tech remains dominant.
Among the world’s biggest companies, 20 are in tech, spanning a combined market value of $9.2 trillion. For perspective, that’s about 31% of the market value of the 100 largest companies.
Rank | Sector | Combined Market Value | Number of Companies | Biggest Company in Sector |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 👩💻 Technology | $9.2T | 20 | Apple |
2 | 🚗 Consumer Discretionary | $4.7T | 17 | Amazon |
3 | 🩺 Health Care | $4.3T | 17 | UnitedHealth Group |
4 | 🛢️ Energy | $3.4T | 8 | Saudi Aramco |
5 | 💵 Financials | $3.0T | 14 | Berkshire Hathaway |
6 | 🏭 Industrials | $1.8T | 9 | Visa |
7 | 🥫 Consumer Staples | $1.8T | 7 | Procter & Gamble |
8 | 📞 Telecommunications | $841B | 5 | Cisco |
9 | ⛏️ Basic Materials | $326B | 2 | Linde |
10 | 🔌 Utilities | $127B | 1 | Nextera Energy |
Companies are classified according to the FTSE Russell Industry Classification Benchmark. *As of Dec 12, 2022.
Consumer discretionary and health care sectors fall next in line, with big players such as Amazon and Johnson & Johnson among their ranks.
At the other end of the spectrum is utilities, the smallest sector overall at least pertaining to the largest companies list. NextEra Energy, the sole utilities company among the rankings is one of the world’s largest developers of wind and solar energy. Over the next three years, it plans to invest up to $95 billion in greening its power operations.
Change of Fortune
It comes as no surprise that many of the biggest companies in the world are long-established players in global markets.
Yet within the rankings, some of the notable risers compared to 2021 are UnitedHealth Group, which launched from #19 in 2021 to #8 this year and NVIDIA which has climbed to become the 11th largest company globally, up from #24 last year.
By contrast, some of the biggest losers are Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and Alibaba. Meta has fallen across the rankings to #26 in 2022 from #6 in 2021. Meanwhile, Alibaba was once the ninth largest globally but has tumbled to #36. Both companies have seen considerable value wiped from their market caps—roughly 66% and 28%, respectively—amid lagging earnings.
With the year coming to a close, it remains to be seen whether the world’s biggest companies stage a comeback in 2023, or face more challenging conditions ahead.
Markets
Ranked: The Most Valuable Housing Markets in America
The U.S. residential real estate market is worth a staggering $47.5 trillion. Here are the most valuable housing markets in the country.
The Most Valuable Housing Markets in America
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
The residential real estate market in the U.S. stands as one of the largest asset classes in the country, worth $47.5 trillion in 2023.
Despite a slowdown in home sales, the total value of homes increased $2.4 trillion last year as low inventory levels pushed up prices. Affordable metropolitan areas saw steady price growth, while expensive metros experienced slower price appreciation.
This graphic shows America’s most valuable housing markets, using data from Redfin.
Top U.S. Residential Real Estate Markets
To calculate the largest U.S. housing markets, Redfin analyzed 90 million properties covering single-family homes, townhouses, condos, and two-to four-unit multifamily properties.
Below, we show the most valuable residential markets as of December 2023:
Rank | U.S. Metro | Total Value of Homes | Total Value of Homes YoY Change |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York, NY | $2.4T | -1.0% |
2 | Los Angeles, CA | $2.1T | +4.3% |
3 | Atlanta, GA | $1.2T | +6.2% |
4 | Boston, MA | $1.2T | +8.3% |
5 | Anaheim, CA | $1.1T | +8.0% |
6 | Washington, DC | $1.0T | +6.2% |
7 | Chicago, IL | $991B | +7.4% |
8 | San Diego, CA | $988B | +9.4% |
9 | Phoenix, AZ | $987B | +4.2% |
10 | Seattle, WA | $911B | +4.6% |
With a housing market worth $2.4 trillion, New York, NY tops the list.
Unlike the majority of large U.S. cities, the aggregate value of homes declined as buyers became increasingly priced out of the market. At the same time, homeowners hesitated to sell in order to lock in low mortgage rates. In fact, more than 80% of mortgage holders in New York City have interest rates that are 5% or lower.
Los Angeles, CA falls in second, with a residential real estate market worth $2.0 trillion. Last year, existing home sales tumbled 24.8%, falling to the lowest point since 2007. However, the housing shortage led prices to increase amid high demand. The median sale price climbed to $975,000 in February 2024, a 5.9% jump compared to the same time last year.
Atlanta, GA ranks third and is the most overpriced housing market in the country according to one countrywide analysis. Homes have been selling for 41.7% more than their worth as of the February 2024 data update.
People are flocking to the city for many reasons. General housing affordability is a major driver, along with its thriving tech center. Along with this, state tax credits have increasingly made it a hub for the TV and film industries, earning it the moniker “Y’allywood”. Another factor in Atlanta’s inflating housing market are large investment firms, which own a huge footprint of homes in the city.
Editor’s note: For those wondering about the Bay Area, the data groups cities like San Francisco ($657 billion), San Jose ($821 billion), and Oakland ($881 billion) as individual entities, which puts them outside the cutoff. See the Redfin data for the full list of cities.
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